Toy bowling-alley



(No Model.) 2 Sheetsheet 1. T. DANQUARD.

TGY BOWLING ALLEY Patented' Peb. 13,1894.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets- Sheet 2. T. DANQUARD. TOY BOWLING ALLEY.

No. 514,673. Patentedfeb. 13, 1894.

Unirse stares Partnr Frrcfll THOMAS DANQUARD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

TOY BOWLING-ALLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 514,673, dated February 13,1894. Application filed February 4, 1893. vSerial No. 460,923. (No model.)

To all whom, t .may concern:

Be it known that l, THOMAS DANQUARD, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of -New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toy Bowling-Alleys; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked'thereon, making a part of this specification.

This invention relates to miniature bowling alleys which are adapted to be placed upon a table or stand and in which the ball is given its impetus by a spring or acquires it by rolling down an incline, while the pins are set up by mechanism controlled or operated by the player.

The object is to improve the construction and arrangement of such mechanical alley and the invention therefore consists in the construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawingsz-Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectionof the improved mechanical alley, on the line oc-- of Fig. 2, the glass case which in practice covers and ineloses the top of the alley being omitted. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, with the top partly broken away to show parts beneath. Fig. 3 is a detail view, in longitudinal section, illustrating-a modification of one feature of the mechanism.- Fig. 4 is a detail cross-section on the line y-y of Fig. 1, showing a modification, and Fig-5 is a detail plan between lines ,e-z, z-z of Fig. 2 showing the saine. 4 Y

That part of the casing which incloses the mechanism of the alley and which forms the bed or floor on which the balls roll, consistsof a rectangular box 10. The top 11 of the box isformed at one end with an aperture 12 through which the ball is raisedv for delivery to an inclined chute 13. The latter is pivoted upon the top or alley iioor 11 and is provided with a handle 14 which projects beyond the casing so that the chute may be swung one way or the other to direct the ball as the player desires. At the other end, the top or door 11 is fitted to receive or support the pins 15 and in order that the ballsvmay be returned again to the players end of the alley the pin end of the top 11 is inclined either toward the sides or toward the rear end of the alley so that the ball may roll into a gutter 16 by which it is delivered to a chute 17 beneath the top 11. The chute 17 is so shaped at its lower end as to deliver theball at a. point immediately below the aperture 12, for a purpose hereinafter referred to. The pins 15 must be so arranged that they shall be free to be knocked down as the ball is delivered against them whileat the same time they may be restored to their normal position or set up without the application of the hand. To this end each pin is connected by a cord 18, which passes through a hole in the top 11 in the cen ter of the spot on-which the respective pin stands, to a weight 19. In the normal position of the apparatus, that is,- when the apparatus is at rest, the weights hang upon the cords 18 and therefore willv restore the several pins to theerect position after they have'been knocked down., The weights hang over but just clear of a vertically movable platform 2O which, in the arrangement shown, is carried by the free end of a lever 2l which is pivoted to a bracket 22. To the lever 21 is connected a retarding device which permits the platform to be raised quickly but causes it to descend slowly. This retarding device is shown as apsmall bellows 23 which is fixed tothe under side of the top ll, the movable side of'the bellows bearing a slotted finger 24 which engages a pin 25 secured to the lever 21. The movable side of the bellows is also provided with a valve 26 which opens outwardly to permit the bellows to be closed quickly but permits the air to enter the bellows slowly as the arm -21 descends. The platform 2O is raised to lift the weights and relieve the strain on the cords 18 by a bell-,crank 27 which is 1 pivoted tb the bottom of the casing 10 and is connected by a link 28 to a rod 29 which projects through the Yfront end of -the machine and is providedwith a knob 30 by which it may be drawn outwardly. ln order to relieve the bar 29 as much as possible of the weight ofthe platform 2O and the weights 19 and to make the movement as smooth and uniform as possible I have added a lifting device or helper to the platform. This consists of a pulley 3l which is mounted o'n the platform to rotate on a horizontal axis and 4has connected to it one end of a cord 32 which passes aroundbeneath the pulley and is connected at its other end to a xed point, as 33. A

spiral spring 34 is connected at one end to a :fixed point on the platform and at its other end to an eccentric pin 35 carried by the pulley 31. These parts are so arranged that when the platform isin its lowest position, as represented in Fig. 1, the cord 32 will be drawn taut and the pin 35 will be on the 0pposite side of the axis from the point to which the other end of the spring is fixed, the spring 34 being then stretched to its full extent. As the platform I commences to rise the spring will act upon the pulley 31 to wind the cord 32 thereon and further to assist in raising theplatform. As the movement of the platforfn commences the power of the springis greatest while its leverage is least, but as the platform rises and the power of the spring decreases through contraction its leverage on the' pulley increases; the result is that the movement of the platform is made steady while the power which must be exerted upon the handle 29 is very much diminished. As the ball is delivered from the end of the chute 17 it rolls upon the end of an arm 36 which is formed to receive the ball. The arm is pivoted, as shown, to a bracket 37 and carries a roll 38 which rises upon the edge of a cam 39. The latter is formed upon a sliding plate 40 which is drawn in one direction by a spring 4l and is connected to the bai` 29 by any suitable means, as by the pin 60.

I do not intend to limit my invention to the exact details of construction which I have shown herein, thus, in place of the weights and means for raising the same, I may connect the several cords 18, as shown in Fig. 3, to a common cord 50 which is passed about a pulley 51 and is connected to a spring 52 which normally exerts a strain upon the cord 50 and will canse the pins to rise to an erect position after being knocked down. The spring is stretched to relieve the strain upon the cords 18 and to release the rpins by a cord 53 which passes about a pulley '54 and is then connected to the bar 29, or, as indicated in said Fig. 3, to an independent handle 55. A pneumatic device may also be employed in connection with this arrangement as shown in said figure, in which the bellows 56 is represented as secured to a fixed bracket 57 and as having its movable side connected by a finger 58 with the end of a spring 52. Likewise, I do not restrict myself to a construction in which the cam 39 is rigidly attached to the bar 29,as with very slight changes my device may be transformed into a coin controlled apperatus, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, in which the plate 40 is adapted to be conpled to the bar 29 by a coin, shown at 49, which must be inserted through acoin' chute 42 whenever a player desires to operate the apparatus. For this purpose the plate is recessed as at 43 while the sides of the recess are notched, as at 44, to receive a coin as it rolls from the chute 42, the coin being supported from falling through the notches by' 'l il,

fingers 45 fixed to a bracket 46, which ports and guides in its movement the handlebar 29'and the plate 40. The bar 29 has secured to it a head 47 which projects into the recess 43 of the plate 40 and which is free to move from the same when the bar 29 is drawn out except when it is coupled thereto by a coin. The fingers 45 extend toward the front of the machine a distance' equal to that through which the bar 29 is moved and then terminate with a suflicient opening between their ends and a stop 48vto permit the coin to drop out as soon as the knob 30 is released by the operator to begin its return movement under the infiuence ofthe spring 41.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows, it being assumed that the plate 40 is connected to the bar 29 'or has been coupled thereto: As the knob 30 is brought ont to its full extentthe platform 20 is raised through the described connections and the weights are lifted to leave the cords 18 slack and the pins to be knocked down. Bythe same movement the cam 39 raises the arm 36 and with it the ball through the aperture 12 to the top of the chute 13. When the ball clears the bottom of the chute it rolls from the end of the arm 36 and through the chute 13 toward or'against the pins, the direction of the ball being controlled or determined by the handle 14. If another ball is` already in the chute 17 it is prevented from leaving the same when the arm 36 rises bythe arm itself which-closes the lend of the chute. As sopn as the knob 30 has been pulled out to its full extent it is released and the arm 36 falls 'at once to its lowest position and receives another ball upon its end;l at the same time the bell-crank 27 moves away from the platform and the latter begins to descend, but by reason of the check or retarding device the downward movement of the platform and weights is sufficiently slow to give time for the ball to reach and knock down the pins and to let them lie long enough to be counted, before the weights again bring the cords 18 taut and return the pins to their erectpositions.

l claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the pins, cords attached tothe bottoms of said pins and passing through the alley floor, means to draw said cords taut,a handled device and connections to relieve the strain on said cords and a retarding device to delay the tautening of said cords, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination of the pins, cords connected to the bottoms of -said pins and pass- -ing through the door on which said pins stand, means to draw said cords taut, a handled device and connections to relieve the strain on said cords, and a'pneumatic check to delay the tantening of said cords,substan tially as shown -and described. g

3. 'l-he combination of the pins, cords connected to the bottoms of said pins and passthrough the Iloor upon which said pins Sup i, stand, weights connected to said cords and nor IOO mally hanging clear, a platform beneath said weights, a handled device and connections to raise said platform and a pneumatic check to retard the descent of said platform, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination with the pins, cords connected to the bottoms of said pins and passing through the floor upon which said pins stand, weights secured to said cords, a platform beneath said cords, a handled device and connections to raise said platform and a pulley mounted on said platform, a cord connected to said pulley and to a fixed point upon the platform, and a spring having one end connected to said platform and the other to an eccentric pin on said pulley, substantially as, shown and described.

5. The combination of the pins, cords connected to said pins 1o restore the pins to erect positions, a retarding device to delay the tautening of the cords means to relieve the strain on said cords, a ball-return chute, a ball elevator, and a single handled device to operate together the ball elevator and the means to relieve the strain on the cords, substantially as shown and described.

6. rlhe combination of the pins, independent cords and weights connected to each pin to restore the pins to their erect positions, a platform movable to raise said weights, aballreturn chute, a ball elevating arm, and a single handled device with connections to raise said platform and said ball elevating arm t0- gether, substantially as shown and described.

7. The combination of the pins, cords and weights connected to said pins torestore the i pins to their erect positions, a platform movable to raise said weights, an inclined or beveled floor on which the pins stand, a ball-return chute to which the ball is delivered by said inclined door, a ball elevating arm, and a single handled device with connections to raise said platform and said ball elevating arm together, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. THOMAS DANQUARD.

Vitnesses:

A. N. J EsBERA. A. WIDDER. 

